Cancer is caused primarily by the environmental factors, in which 90-95% cases are due to lifestyle and rest 5-10% are due to heredity.


Research findings indicate that almost 13% (i.e. 7.9 million) of the human deaths worldwide, caused every year, are due to cancer and it has been predicted that by the end of 2030 this percentage of mortality rate will jump to 12 million. There are many tests available in the market for detection of cancer, such as, biopsy, CT scan, MRI etc. All these tests are extremely painful and also at the same time they are very expensive and time consuming. These tests emit radiations which are harmful for the body and are not effective for all. Most of the cancer patients are unable to get themselves tested at periodic intervals due to economical constraints as well.


Looking at all the drawbacks of cancer diagnostic tests, the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson and Boston scientists have invented a blood test which could easily detect the cancerous cells. The advantage of blood test over other detection tests is that this test will help detecting cancer of all types at an early stage. This test confirms whether the body is suffering from cancer or not, with an accuracy of more than 95%, and if this blood test is repeated, then the accuracy level jumps to 99%.


The test helps to detect ONCO cells in blood. The presence of stray cells in the blood stream shows that the patient is affected. This test can be used to detect many types of cancer, especially lung, colon, breast and prostate.


A test named Mass. General’s test, published by Haber and his colleagues, advised the doctors to continuously monitor the treatment. It helps determining whether the drug is operative or not and which drug to try next. In this test a microchip is used which resembles the laboratory slide which is covered by 78,000 tiny posts; it resembles a hairbrush having bristles. These posts are antibody coated and bound to the tumor cells. When blood is forced across the chip, the cancer cells stick to the posts. They appear to be shiny due to the presence of satin. The staining of cancerous cells makes it easy for the researchers to count and capture the cancerous cells for further studies. According to Mehmet Toner, a bioengineer at Harvard University, who helped in designing this test: “This test is used for finding one cancer cell in a billion of healthy cells”.


Nations like United States, UK and many European countries are already leveraging the advantages of these tests and investing hugely to implement these in their respective countries. A lot of research has gone into this field and the advanced nations are adopting these for bettering general health of their country-people. Scientists in India are also keenly working on cancer remedies and investors in our country are supporting them wholeheartedly.


To do a little more, the investors could also think of getting those already existing tests done in India, so that India can also take advantage of the latest and easy tests to detect cancer and the affected individuals could get treated well. These tests actually make the detection easy and faster and facilitate the entire process which helps the cancer patients immensely. As this is a very new approach in the area of cancer detection, for sure investors could profit enormously out of this investment.